Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to hybrid manufacturing centers capable of performing both additive and hybrid manufacturing procedures, and more particularly, to systems and methods for utilizing smart models in a computer aided drafting (CAD) environment in conjunction with manufacturing machines.
Description of the Related Art
Hybrid manufacturing processes have been developed that combine additive and subtractive manufacturing steps to form a part. Accordingly, a hybrid manufacturing process may be used to make or to grow a part through the use of sequential additive and subtractive methods. During additive manufacturing, a part may be created or grown by depositing powder and then selectively fusing the powder in specific areas to create a solid object. Subtractive methods then may be used to remove unwanted material from the solid object formed during the additive manufacturing process. The subtractive methods may be used to improve fit between parts and improve surface qualities. With the advent of hybrid manufacturing, the manufacturable world of part designs has been significantly expanded.
Computer aided drafting (CAD) manufacturing processes have been recently developed that may be used as guidelines for manufacturing a part using, for example, additive or hybrid manufacturing techniques. Typically, such guidelines are then imported into a computer aided manufacturing (CAM) system, as a whole, and then used for manufacturing by identifying the features to be machined or features to be machined and/or deposited.
Currently, hybrid manufacturing process development is a complicated and actively pursued field of study that considers when to add material, when to subtract, from where to add material, the sequence of operation, and other manufacturing considerations. More specifically, when making a CAD model, the user employs a set of design processes (e.g., extrude, cutout, etc.) to form the model. While this design process information is retained in the CAD environment, it is not generally retained in the model provided to the CAM environment, as the CAM environment typically requires only the completed model. Accordingly, in conventional processes, the model imported into the CAM environment does not include any of the design information which indicates the sequence or processes used to create the model.
In general, CAD and CAM instructions for manufacturing a part using a hybrid machine have been developed independent of one another, and therefore have overlooked synergies that may result from correlating CAD commands with CAM commands.